|
|
SUNDANCE 2007
The Savages
"The Savages" by Zack Roddy
Written and Directed by Tamara Jenkins, The Savages follows the dysfunctional Savage family. There's Wendy (Laura Linney) a neurotic, self involved thirty nine year old who is having a passionate affair with a married man. And there's Ben (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a sluggish, self-involved forty two year old whose girlfriend of three years' visa has just expired, and yet he won't marry her because he feels their relationship is "just not at that level" yet. She lives in Manhattan, he in Buffalo. But their lives take a sudden turn when their elder father's girlfriend of twenty years dies, and they are both suddenly put in charge of his care. This proves difficult for the both of these two already weak people, made even more difficult by the fact that their father suffers from dementia. Wendy and Ben now must survive off of each other, and take care of a man that hardly took care of them, and now can hardly remember them.
The Savages often hilarious, and often sad, is an excellent film. Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman have excellent chemistry as brother and sister, and the both of them are comedic geniuses. Just their facial expressions in some scenes were enough to put the audience in stitches. Look for The Savages in theatres in the future.
|
|
